1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for debriefing multi aircraft (A/C) operations.
2. Related Art
It is very important to be able to analyse the performance of pilot(s) after a flight. The post flight analysis occurs in a meeting referred to as a "debrief". A debrief meeting usually includes the pilots, crew members and other involved persons who discuss the group and individual performances during the flight, critiquing problems and proposing solutions or procedures to improve performance in the future. This procedure maximizes the training value of the flight. The value of the debrief is increased if it is held as soon after the flight as possible, while recollections and impressions are still fresh. A debriefing system should have the ability to display to the pilots information about the performance parameters of their aircraft, information about their aircraft in relation to geographic location and other aircraft, and audio/video record of the flight. A known tool for this purpose is Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation (or Range) (ACMI/ACMR).
The most well known ACMI consists of a ground Range that tracks the A/C training above it. The A/C carries a special pod which enables ground tracking and data transmission from the A/C to the ground.
The data of the ground range and the A/C is gathered (in real-time in the ground station. Three-dimensional flight tracks are reconstructed on display devices which enable a visual and quantitative debriefing of the flight.
However, this known ACMI has serious disadvantages, namely it is limited to a special ground range and can thus be utilised only for a very restricted number of training flights, i.e. those being performed over said ground range. Moreover, it is very expensive.
It has therefore been desirable to find a method which would enable the debriefing of multi A/C training operations which could overcome the above drawbacks.
Said method should enable storage of the various data of the flight parameters required for the debriefing on board of the A/C, in the course of the training operation and not require data transmission from the aircraft to the ground range in the course of the flight.
Moreover, said method should be compatible with the Global Positioning System (GPS).
The GPS system achieves an accurate fixation of the position of the aircraft in a given moment without the need of ground tracking and synchronization with the aircraft.
Many military aircraft are provided with integral video tape recorders (AVTR); on the recording tape thereof are recorded both the audio output and the video output. However, the AVTR is at the present time not fully utilised.
It was therefore advantageous to find a method in which the AVTR can be utilised as in digital data storage for the flight parameters which are collected from the aircraft systems for storage and future retrieval in a digital form.
The use of the AVTR in connection with the present invention has, inter alia, the following advantages:
a) It saves the need for planting an additional recording device in the aircraft, which is usually constrained by weight and size limitations. PA1 b) The video cassette gives very large storage capacity which is a major problem for digital storage methods and especially when audio information is required to be stored as well. PA1 c) The ability to store 1-3 hours of flight time history enables the use of the system not only for Air Combat Maneuvering but also for Air-to-Ground missions or other extended exercises without bothering the pilot with storage volume management during the mission. Moreover, it enables the storage of maintenance information (engine parameters, etc.) that will be used for the post flight maintenance use. PA1 a) GPS receivers require continuous eye to eye contact between its antenna and the satellites--which is an almost impossible requirement for ACM tasks. PA1 b) GPS receivers are very sensitive to accelerations so ACM is a "hostile atmosphere" for it in this sense also.
There is known a device being used for test flights in which the flight data are collected by suitable means and encoded into VTR. However, in this device the encoding is performed by Pulse-Code-Modulation (PCM) method which is a very precisely synchronized format that requires, for this kind of implementation (i.e. video insertion), signal compression and stability in order to adapt it to video protocol timing. A disadvantage of devices requiring synchronous protocols is that once a message is begun if must be received immediately or the data will be lost because internal buffering is minimal.
The PCM airborne encoder and the ground demodulator are therefore very complicated and expensive and are not suitable for the present purpose.